


The world isn't fair...

by PlinkerPlonker



Series: The DCFU [2]
Category: Batman: Arkham (Video Games), DCU, Justice League - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Abusive Father, Badass Wonder Woman and Batman, Banter between J-league and young J-league, Brooding (guess who's doing it), Death... And lots of it, F/M, Lazarus pit (oh fuck), M/M, Multi, Self Harm, This is meant to be mostly lighthearted but some serious moments and dark things happen occasionally, This is my first work so don't hate plz, Torture (Physical and psychological), too many tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 04:16:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11283576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlinkerPlonker/pseuds/PlinkerPlonker
Summary: "The world isn't fair" is exactly what Jason was thinking while he waited in that dark, rat-infested abandoned warehouse. Why was he waiting for the Joker to come back anyway? Because then he was basically waiting to get hit with a crowbar, he didn't know what the hell he was on about, it was probably the concussions and the blunt force trauma to his head speaking. "Where are you Bruce?" He half sobbed, half whispered.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ForeverLilacLies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForeverLilacLies/gifts).



"The world isn't fair" is exactly what Jason was thinking while he waited in that dark, rat-infested abandoned warehouse. Why was he waiting for the Joker to come back anyway? Because then he was basically waiting to get hit with a crowbar, he didn't know what the hell he was on about, it was probably the concussions and the blunt force trauma to his head speaking. "Where are you Bruce?" He half sobbed, half whispered. He couldn't remember what happened next, all he knew was someone turned on the lights, temporarily blinding him, and then... Concussion number seven. "Alfred, are we any closer to finding Jason?" Bruce asked hopefully. The answer that came from the other phone wasn't what he wanted. "I'm afraid not sir. Master Todd has been missing for a year now, besides you have Master Grayson. And don't forget Ms Gordon." "I know Alfred, it's just, I tried and I tried but somehow we still can't find him. The Joker isn't this smart he never has been and he never will!" Bruce wasn't known for being very patient but even Alfred's patience had ran out at this point. "Just come home Master Bruce and we can continue this conversation over dinner. Ms Gordon and Master Grayson are worried about you. Alfred hung up the phone and went down to the cave, he knew Bruce would never want to have to trouble the rest of the Justice league with something he could do alone although even when he couldn't do something on his own he never bloody asked for help. He walked over to the computer trying not to imagine what Jason must be going through - that psychopathic clown bludgeoning him, cutting him, burning him, scarring him emotionally and physically. He tried to suppress a tear but he couldn't help it, when Bruce lost his parents he had gone through something horrible but Jason was dealing with the Clown Prince of Crime. He pressed a button and within seconds each member of the Justice league had popped up on the shining bright screen, Barry was first to respond (naturally). "I'm sorry Alfred I've got nothing" Barry was having a lot of trouble with Wally right now. Wally, Dick, Roy and Jason were practically brothers, thick as thieves, joined at the hip.  
————————————————————————  
Three months later

"Oh my god Jason, Jesus fucking Christ! HOLD ON JASON I'M COMING!" Bruce sped through Gotham in the Batmoblie, J'onn had found where Jason was through a live streaming of a time bomb placed on an oil barrel next to him in a warehouse. Bruce had obviously been furious that Alfred had brought the Justice league into this but he knew what was more important, he could scold him later. He nearly crashed the Batmobile as he jumped out of it (he knew it was reckless but now was not the time) and it carried on into some thugs, shocking them and blasting them out of the way. He ran, faster than he had ever ran before, he still had time he could still save Jason from the mess that he gotten him into.  
"I'll never let anything happen to him EVER again! Even if I kill to do it" He thought. Thinking that was easy but doing it? Way harder. He was almost there! Almost at the door he sped up and- He'll never forget the sound of that explosion. It knocked him off his feet and straight into the cockpit of the Batmoblie, smashing the glass, he looked up with horror and climbed off realising that yet again the Joker had won. It was in his head, that manic laughter, taunting him waving Jason's dead, cold, limp corpse in front of him. Bruce sunk to his knees and cried out "JASONNN!!" He cried, the Batman cried and he knew that some random criminals around were looking at him but he didn't care, he had lost his son. Some looked at him with pity, others with confusion but they all flinched when he suddenly got up and walked towards the rubble. They followed him and they couldn't believe their eyes when the Batman sank to his knees again with the body of his son in his arms. Everyone knew that the Batman and Robin had a father-son thing going on, and sure they hated them both more than they hated the police but no one deserved this. Horrific is what is was, that ghostly 'J' branded on to his face, they all felt sorry for him and they weren't hiding it. Some of them even cried themselves and one of them even manned up and rested a hand on Bruce's shoulder. The strangest part is, even though it was a criminal Bruce needed sympathy and looked him in the eyes and sobbed "Thank you." Roy was over at Wally's when he heard the news, they were playing video games and Olly had called him. It was brutal, and it hurt, like getting shot with an arrow for 'training' but worse and when he went to tell Wally he found him buried in Barry's chest crying loudly. Connor and M'gann were on a date when they found out, the waiter had told them that a mister 'Clark Kent' was waiting outside for them. Kaldur had just so happened to walk in on Arthur watching the video of Jason's death, he was hurt, betrayed that Arthur would keep this from him. He had stormed off but barely stormed anywhere before he collapsed and the tears started streaming down his face. Wally, Dick and Roy were the most effected by it, Dick and Roy threatened to go out together and kill the Joker, Wally thought he could go back in time to save him. "Wally you don't know what doing that could do!" "He was fifteen and one of my best friends Barry! How bad could preventing one death be?!" "Wally! I- There's something I need to tell you, you know how my mother died when I was a kid, she was murdered by a man called Eobard Thawne. He was a speedster from the future who was obsessed with me and recreated the accident that gave me my powers to go back in time and meet me. Unfortunately he couldn't go back far enough and found his grave which had 'the Flash's greatest adversary' engraved on it, apparently this was enough to make him think me and him are enemies so he went back in time again and found out that we couldn't exist without the other. So he killed my mother. I tried to save her once but that caused an alternate timeline called 'Flashpoint' where everything was different, Thomas Wayne was Batman and Martha Wayne was the Joker because it was Bruce who was shot, Wonder Woman was at war with Aquaman and the only way to fix this was to let Eobard kill my mother". "Oh my- Jesus Barry, I- I didn't know I'm sorry. Wait, Eobard? The- The Reverse Flash?" "Now do you see why I can't let you do this?" "I know, it's just, I miss him so much" He almost didn't finish the sentence before he was tearing up. Dick had lost a lot of people in his life but he always had someone to help him through it, the pain of losing a member of your family hurt of course but it hurt less when you had friends and more family to help you through it. He couldn't handle this though, he loved Jason like a brother but he was reckless, too reckless. He didn't go to the funeral because he knew he couldn't go through with it, instead he just stayed home. He was lay on his bed reading and watching TV when Wally zoomed into his (formerly his and Jason's room) room. They just looked at each for a moment, then Dick invited him to lie beside him just like movie nights that they had when... Wally was tired, and he wanted to help Dick get through this, he wanted to help everyone get through this. He rested his head on Dick's shoulder, Wally loved it when they had these little moments like this. He turned his attention to the TV, there was a show about some superhero who was blind, he heard there was a show being made from these four superhero shows, a big combination of the four shows he thought. He'd probably watch it, he knew Dick would because Dick loved these kind of shows about superheroes (Gee I wonder why?). Dick enjoyed this, but there was just one teeny tiny problem, even before he knew the meaning of the word 'love' he had been wildly in love with Wally, just being near him made his heart skip a beat. Dick loved everything about him, his beautiful red hair, perfect white teeth, that laugh he had that filled his stomach with butterflies, how good his costume looked on him, the way it fit him. "I wonder how he'd fit inside me" Dick couldn't help but smirk at this. "Dick?" Wally asked in that voice, god why did he find that voice so adorable yet sexy? "Yeah Wally?" "How come you weren't at Jay's funeral?" "I wouldn't have been able to see it through. Why, did you miss me?" He smirked. ———————————————————————— Wally walked up to the coffin and placed his hand on it, he sighed and payed his respects. "Hope you're in a better place bud". About an hour of some more bullshit lies that people said - I mean they could have been talking about any random person because he knew the real Jay, he was strong, fearless and he never left anyone behind even if he hated their guts. Jay would stick up for the weak no matter who they are or what they are. Because if he was being honest, Jay was probably the best person he ever knew. And that speech right there is exactly what he said when he was asked to say a few words about Jay when he was being lowered into that wet earth, dampened by the rain. ———————————————————————— "Why, did you miss me?" Dick smirked. "You have no idea" It was the way he said it so seductively, God it turned Dick on (ha ha) so much and before he knew he was leaning in for a kiss. Wally pressed his lips against Dick's and it was so soft but, passionate, and Dick tasted so good. Wally and Dick's tongues were fighting for dominance. Wally pushed Dick down on to the bed and straddled him smashing their lips together, making out with each other once again, this time more rough and needful. Dick took control and flipped them over pushing Wally against the headboard and practically tearing his shirt off moving his head so he could get to every part of him, his nipples, arms, chest every single piece of him. Dick sucked at Wally's nipples earning a very sexy and seductive moan, in less than half a second Wally flipped them again and tore Dick's shirt off and pulled him to feet then began slowly removing his pants, once they were off he started mouthing at the outline of his erection on his boxers then removed them quickly and took Dick's full length in his mouth and slowly started to bob his head up and down moaning while he did it causing even more moaning from Dick "God Walls where the hell did you learn how to use your mouth like this? God I'm close Wally" Wally sped up, went faster and harder they were both moaning so much and Wally moaning just tipped him over the edge and Wally swallowed every last bit just as he came too, both of them fell back onto the bed riding out their orgasms. Dick fell back onto the bed while Wally just looked shocked. "We shouldn't have done that Dick" "What do you mean?" "Jesus Dick! Today was Jason's funeral, do you know how hard it was for me to walk up to that coffin with his DEAD body in it? Jason wasn't just like a brother to you, he was a brother to me and Roy as well. And we respected him enough that we went to his funeral unlike a certain someone whose only excuse is 'I wouldn't have been able to do it'. Bullshit Dick!" No more words were said, Wally just sped off leaving a note on the door 'this was a one-time thing'. Dick sighed, he knew that he would be lucky if Wally liked him but he didn't deserve- no, he did deserve that. How could he not go to Jason's funeral, his own brother! Bruce was 'coping' he guessed, Clark had taken Bruce out for drinks to help with- Bruce preferred for him not to say. Thanks to his alien DNA Clark couldn't get drunk, Bruce could but he said that would mean 'letting his guard down' whatever the hell that had to do with drinking he didn't know. After about eleven drinks (eleven!?) Bruce was drunk- barely because of his 'willpower' honestly Clark just thought Bruce secretly drunk a lot and had gotten used to it (if that made any sense). "Come on Brucie that's enough drinks for one night" "Buhh I donn wahnna goo hoome" Bruce slurrred like someone learning English (badly). "Well to be honest I don't care what you think" Clark was never going to get to say that again so he made the most of it and guided Bruce to his car, then Bruce collapsed onto the ground. Bruce was heavy, very heavy. "Looks a job for the Man of steel" he muttered in annoyance.


	2. "Till death do us part"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It was so romantic the way Mister J proposed to me that night! He dragged a body up to a rooftop and set a hospital on fire and opened up the body, when he pulled out that ring with the intestine stuck through it the thing I heard was not the screams of the damned but instead it was 'be my wife'. Ahhh. I love my Mister J sooooo much, ya couldn't ask for more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert notes here*

"It was so romantic the way Mister J proposed to me that night! He dragged a body up to a rooftop and set a hospital on fire and opened up the body, when he pulled out that ring with the intestine stuck through it the thing I heard was not the screams of the damned but instead it was 'be my wife'. Ahhh. I love my Mister J sooooo much, ya couldn't ask for more.

Of course the Joker was a bad person no question about that but why did he do these things? He never really knew but he liked to think it was because he was a very mentally unstable person who is very insane and very violent. Some of the worst things he had ever done were including but not limited to; Torturing and killing Robin, burning thirteen children alive, blowing up 7 buildings at once, poisoning two of his own men just to prove a point but at least he had a 'perfectly' good reason why he did these things - he was insane.

————————————————————————  
July 4 2016 (after the events of Scarecrow's 'City of fear' takeover)

Ra's al ghul's failed return was meant to be the destruction of the Lazarus pit, but word travels fast around the Gotham criminal underworld. Harley and the remaining lot of the Joker's old crew had heard of word about a new Lazarus pit, a stronger Lazarus pit. They said if a man lost an arm then this pit could regrow it, with more muscles, stronger bones, more durable skin and it connected to the rest of the body better too, as in you never losing that arm EVER again.

The plan was kinda like 'a limb for a limb' except it was more like 'ashes for a Joker'. "Didn't you hear? Harley spent every last cent on this job, guess she really is obsessed with the Joker".  
"What if it don't bring the boss back? What if Harley puts dem ashes in and the Joker don't come back?"  
"Harley kills us all I'm guessing." They blasted their way through the league of assassins, they had never stood a chance, there were children being trained there but they didn't care. Harley was ruthless when it came to her 'Mister J' and everyone knew it, everyone from Gotham to Keystone knew it. Even some people all the way over in Smallville knew it, because the chemical bath that created the sadistic, cruel, violent monstrosity that was the Joker was the exact same chemical bath that created Harley.

The echoing sound of Harley's heels 'click clacking' on the cold stone masonry added even more tension to the moment as she opened up the lid and peppered the ashes into the pit, watching them sink to the bottom before... changing? Was it working?! Was she finally gonna get her beloved Mister J back? He swung between the pipes near the ceiling, his red mask clearly unable to cover the hate that hid underneath, he mapped out his plan of attack in his head.

[This next bit is basically a choice thing, if you don't know what I'm talking about then read the end notes first then come back to this] 

{Stealthy route.} {Obliterate them.}

"Don't be an idiot Jay-Jay, you died once don't do it again" he thought to himself before dropping down silently.  
"Like a sneaky ninja" Red hood muttered. He crept up behind the first guy and grabbed him by the neck, snapping it with ease and stealth. He pressed a button on his arm pad and the built-in silencers on his handguns activated, pulling it out as slowly as possible, he mock-yawned and turned away as he pressed softly on the trigger. The body slumped to the ground and Jason realised what he was doing.  
"Showing off to no one? Man, I really have sunk low."

He proceeded to take out all of Harley's men in quick succession before sneaking through a vent and striking Harley from above, silently of course, don't judge him. But then he heard it, that cold familiar voice, the one that crossed the line between joking and serious.  
"Heya Toddy! Did ya miss me?" Thwack! Concussion. Number. Eight.

"Why not? It's been a while since I got to spread my wings. Go ballistic Jay-bird" he thought to himself before crashing down on Harley's men, pulling out his guns and flipping over a guy, proceeding to pistol whip the guy behind him. He grabbed him by the wrist and twisted shoving his own gun into his mouth and squeezing, the loud bang echoing throughout the long, creepy hallway. After popping two more guys Jason grabbed another two guys and smashed their skulls together, incapacitating them instantly (obviously).

He walked up to the door and kicked it in, Harley ran at him in a frenzy.  
"You won't take away my Mister J! Nobody will, not this time! Not ever again!" Red hood grabbed the baseball bat and pulled it away. Harley was shocked to see how easily it slipped out of her hand, Harley looked at Red hood. Red hood knocked Harley out.  
"All in a days work" groaned a tired and very grumpy Jason and then he heard it. That cold familiar voice, the one that crossed the line between joking and serious.  
"Heya Toddy! Did ya miss me?" Thwack! Concussion. Number. Eight.

————————————————————————

Wally hated doing this to himself, but he still felt like he had to. His abusive father, Jason's 'death', him and Dick. He dragged the razor down his arm slowly, deeper this time. Blood dropped from his arm, tears dripped from his eyes. All these things made him who he is today and he knew that Dick still loved him after all these years and he loved Dick. He knew that he would be happy with him, but he felt like he didn't deserve it because of the night of Jason's funeral and... that night in Star city.

He had gotten drunk and made out a 'little' with Roy, he knew Roy wasn't into guys and they'd gotten past that and now they were cool but the bad part was that Dick saw all of it. He dragged the razor down his arm again, softer this time and quicker but it hurt just as much because he was damaged. When you have 'powers' you don't get to have a normal life. He began to drag the razor down his arm again  
"Hey Walls?" Dick's voice called out but Wally barely heard it.  
"Ohhh Wall-E?" Dick stopped dead in his tracks when he saw him. His heart was shattered just then.

"Oh my god Wally!" He ran over and threw the razor away and held Wally, who was now crying curled up in a ball, deep in his arms. He grabbed Wally's arm and forced himself to look, no matter how devastating.  
"Wally, no! Why would you do this?" He hadn't realised that he was crying himself.  
"I'm sorry Dick, it's all my fault! It's all my fault!" The sobbing just got louder and louder as the two men just sat there in each other's arms.

After a long heart-to-heart it was almost over.  
"How come you never told me? I could have helped you Wally"  
"I did it b-because I thought you hated me, my dad... I can hear him in my head, TORMENTING me! I hated him so much, people like him, people like the Joker don't deserve to live but we let them live anyway. Heh heh, heh ha ha ha ha!" Wally was so broken, so ruined that he had just started laughing. It wasn't long before that laughter turned into crying and in his head a voice was telling him how pathetic he was, a twenty two year old man crying his eyes out over something that happened in the past.

He hadn't expected to start his day like this but hell what could he say? He had just been resurrected after all, the least he could do was say thank you. The last time someone asked the Joker to say 'thank you' that person had gotten a bullet between the eyes. But now his favourite Robin was right here and ohhhh the nostalgia! The crunching sound it made when the crowbar broke a bone, the splat sound when Toddy's wounds were leaking through the makeshift bandages. He was deformed that much he knew, there were holes in his body and sagging flesh and some nerves in his arm just didn't want to COOPERATE!!! "Ah the good old days right Jay-Z? Except this time I'm not going to kill you. This time I want Batsy"  
"Ha! Guess you haven't been alive too long have ya, Mistah J?" He wanted to sound as mocking as possible because this time Jason didn't want to be afraid anymore. "Batmans dead" There done it was said, no emotion, just a cold, bitter, raspy voice.

"He's not dead. But you will be if you don't tell me where he is. Actually I'm past that I just wanna swing this crowbar, at your face! He clonked him again right in the nose, all while singing a somewhat familiar song.  
"I've got you under my skin" Bang! Right to the ear. "I've got you deep in the heart of me! So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me!" Joker's voice still mixed in with the ringing from the blow. Jason thought about what he just said and fought back a grin while muttering to himself  
"Get your mind outa the gutter, now is not the time... maybe later tonight though" Clonk! Right to the mouth.  
"Shut up! I'm singing you a song, you should be grateful! I go to all these lengths and you can't-"  
The wall beside them collapsed as an explosion sent Harley and the debris flying over their heads.  
An arrow shot out from a bow into Joker's leg and without warning it electrocuted him. The figure ran up to Jason and began to untie him.  
"Roy! You're late!"  
"I know, shocking"  
"I hate you"  
"Like I already said, I know"

He could never hate Wally, even if he tried, he couldn't do it. No one could because underneath the mask Wally was exactly the same; hyperactive, jolly, funny, immature little kid that could make ANYONE smile (even Bruce on one occasion). Dick loved Wally, it was no secret, so when Wally told him he thought that he hated him, he hated himself. He brought Wally's face up to meet his, he was greeted by those adorable puppy eyes and that god damn perfect face. Dick smiled lightly and said "How could I hate you? When I'm so madly in love with you" He kissed him, it was short but sweet, and it might not have been perfect but it was everything Dick wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really want to have the Joker come back to life but still have him alive as like a spirit without a body kind of thing but aside from that I want to make one thing clear, we are now in the present. Jason Todd is Red hood, this is still pretty much Arkhamverse with A LOT of CW stuff in here, Wally and Dick are still in an awkward situation in their friendship cause of reasons and someone needs to die in the next chapter, so I'm gonna make this like a Telltale kind of thing I put like a choice or something in here and you guys comment which choices you chose but as far as I know only two people are really reading this so if you guys can tell people about my work maybe I'll have more people so I'll be able to make this work better I'm writing too much on the notes I should probably stop now and you should probably get on with your lives because there's not anything left to read about in these notes and why am I still writing?


	3. True love doesn't last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I wish I'd never ran out on you the night of Jason's funeral"  
> "You were confused, that's all ok? Just promise me you won't do this to yourself again"  
> "I promise"  
> That was a promise Wally fully intended to keep. Dick's phone began to buzz. It was Alfred, so it was probably important but he couldn't just leave Wally here like this. He answered the phone  
> "Ah! Master Grayson I was beginning to think you wouldn't answer"  
> "What is it Alfred?"  
> "Another sighting of this 'new Batman' I'm afraid" Dick groaned as he thought for a moment. He could stay with Wally and leave Tim to look into it or leave Wally just in case this 'new Batman' shows up and harms Tim. "No right answer" He thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to scrap the whole TellTale ‘Your choices matter’ bullshit. It’s too complicated and would take a lot of time oh and I’ve been gone for about a year so that’s a thing and this story is finally going somewhere instead of being a bumbling mess. 
> 
> It’s all right my children... your messiah has returned 
> 
> *Don’t be offended by that comment if there’s one thing that scares me it’s spiders, insects and triggered people on the internet*

"I wish I'd never ran out on you the night of Jason's funeral"  
"You were confused, that's all ok? Just promise me you won't do this to yourself again"  
"I promise"  
That was a promise Wally fully intended to keep. Dick's phone began to buzz. It was Alfred, so it was probably important but he couldn't just leave Wally here like this. He answered the phone  
"Ah! Master Grayson I was beginning to think you wouldn't answer"  
"What is it Alfred?"  
"Another sighting of this 'new Batman' I'm afraid" Dick groaned as he thought for a moment. He could stay with Wally and leave Tim to look into it or leave Wally just in case this 'new Batman' shows up and harms Tim. "No right answer" He thought.

“I’m so sorry Wally I have to help Tim but I promise I’ll be back soon ok?”  
“Yeah ok, go catch that faker”  
Dick walked over to his bookshelf and felt along the top until his fingers touched a button, still clear of dust from the last time he pressed it. Wally watched in surprise as the shelf twisted round revealing Dick’s suit, the worn black and blue spandex covering the Kevlar beneath.  
“Bruce had a whole cave” Wally smirked. Dick chuckled as he slid into the costume.  
“Get the window will ya?” Dick said stretching. Wally shrugged and obeyed, not moving from his spot as a quick streak of yellow shot from Wally to the window. Dick slipped on his mask and ran towards the window somersaulting out of it whipping out his grappling hook and firing it at the top of the McDonalds billboard that gave him the worst views and a hunger for a Big Mac, the hook latching on to the same spot it always did. Dick had precision and he loved it.  
As he flipped on to the roof he heard a ‘Boo!’ from behind him.

Jason finished off the rest of The Joker’s goons, his cold eyes not even flinching as he did it. Roy didn’t like it, not one bit but he never brought it up because as wrong as it was it worked really well. At long last he had the Joker in his grasp and he was about to put a bullet in his head once and for all, it didn’t feel like justice and there was no other way to make him suffer, he’d just enjoy it.  
Roy hated the Joker a lot less than Jason, he didn’t want to be around when Jason did the deed. Looking at Todd’s work he coldly said “I’ll take the car round, you finish up here”. He got in the car, lit a cig, put on the radio and drove up to the back of the warehouse. He pulled out his phone and looked at his messages:

Barb - Where were you jackass? I waited 4 hours!

Olly - How’s Gotham pal? You settled in nicely? Just wanted to let you know that me and Thea are coming out to see you next week k?

Marcus - Where’s my fucking money! You have 2 days! You owe me for those 4 orders

Unknown - My offer still stands Arsenal, I’m giving you the opportunity to be something better. Red Hood is a killer.

Roy stopped at that last text and stared at it, he was so deep thought he never noticed Jason get into the car. He was about to start the engine but then he realised how soaked in blood Jason was. “Toddy? You ok? Is that filthy bastard dead?” He surveyed Jay’s body “That’s not your blood, you’ve got no wounds. Answer me Jay” “Start the car. Start the car please” Sighing heavily he turned the key, the headlights came on and they drove out into the unforgiving streets of Gotham.

The stories and the rumours could never have prepared Dick or Tim for what this ‘New Batman’ was. It wasn’t human. Was it? It couldn’t be. It looked like a shadow and it practically glided on the air yet when it fought the movement seemed so real and the shape of the monster was perfectly solid. Dick arrived just in time to see Tim being thrown around like a rag doll, when Tim went to strike or jab the phantom seemed to know exactly where and when Tim’s hits would land. It was like watching a war veteran beat up a puppy. The phantom didn’t once try and hit Tim, he was wearing him out, almost pushing away his attacks. And what happened next was indescribable. Thrusting his arm forward it shoved it wrist mere inches from Tim’s face and without warning some sort of gas sprayed from a mechanism on it's wrist. Tim fell to the ground choking and coughing. Dick ran to his side and the phantom fell back, like a trust fall, off the roof and soared into the air beating its giant, gaseous wings. Tim was rolling around screaming and bawling like he was terrified. Then he appeared, like a godsend, yellow streak zoomed across the city and up to the roof top. “Wally thank god it’s Tim there’s something wrong and I don’t know what the fuck to do!” Dick cried in panic. “Ohh fuck oh fuck ohh shit Dick what happened to him?” “It was that psycho” “I’ll take him to Alf he’s been doing this since the beginning he’ll have seen all sorts of crap” Wally zoomed him off and left Dick to ponder. He had so many questions and he felt like if he got the answers it’d only provide more questions.

—————————1 Year Later—————————

Life isn’t fair. Tim is still in a coma, the Joker is alive and so is Jason, Barbara found out about their identities - all of them - Life has changed for everyone. Clark left Earth after levelling Metropolis to ‘find’ himself, Diana went back to Amazon to lead her people, Barry and Iris are going to be parents, Olly has passed the mantle of Green Arrow to Thea, Hal sacrificed his life to save the Green Lantern Corps, the young justice team disbanded and everything is fucked six ways from Sunday.

Dick sat on his bed. He missed Wally, he had gone to visit Iris and Barry for two weeks. They were both still unsure about their relationship and it scared Dick. He remembered the night Wally left. They were lying on the couch together watching Marvel’s Punisher and Wally was idly stroking Dick’s hair, he ran his fingers through his smooth curls and pressed his lips to Dick’s forehead. Wally was gentle like that and Dick was driven mad by it, yes he loved how passionate Wally was but sometimes he wanted him to get a little ‘rough’. As he was getting ready to leave Dick asked a slightly strange question.  
“Wally, have you ever thought about being a dad?” Great question Dick, you haven’t even been together for a month yet and you’re already wanting kids.  
“Uhh no not really Dickie bird”  
“Good cuz you’d be an awful father” smooth save champ, you insulted him to his face.  
“Um... well see ya. I guess...” Wally went in for a hug and to add insult to injury it was the most awkward 37 second hug of all time. Wow how the fuck aren’t you a virgin Dick? Good god now we know why Mum and Dad named you Dick don’t we?  
“Shut up inner voice...” Dick muttered to himself like a goon at Arkham. Yeah that memory sucked.

Roy was awoken by a very loud knocking noise. He fell out of bed and actually considered lying there. The knocking became more consistent and louder.  
“COMING!” He bellowed angrily. He opened the door to see a girl with an outfit like a purple cheerleader and hair as orange as... well an orange. The girl spoke strangely but he was sure he recognised her from somewhere.  
“Is this the place where I might find friend Robin?”  
“Hey I remember you! (that was bullshit) You’re that Tameranian*1 girl, Starblast was it?”  
“Starfire, I find it strange how you remember Tameran*2 and not me Speedy.”  
“It’s Arsenal, Thea is Speedy now. So what can I do for ya Star?”  
“I was told friend Robin would be here, I wanted us to do the catching up and reminiscing of when we were the Titans.”  
“Yeah well you’ve got the wrong apartment and the wrong Robin sister, this is were Jason lives.”  
“Oh this is the bad times, I came three galaxies to see the friend Robin, where can I find him?”  
“Bludhaven, Star. You’ve had a long journey you should stay here for the night, I’ll go ask Jay see if he’s cool with it.”

After Roy had left it was just Jason and Starfire, he liked her, thought she was funny.  
“One question Star, how’d you find me? It’s a little strange how you just popped out of nowhere.”  
“Well there was a man in a weird costume, like the Batman, but he had a hood and his suit was all white except for a few red streaks on his torso and he wore a mask.”  
“What’s his name? I don’t think I’ve seen him around Gotham.”  
“I was never told, he approached me and said he knew who I was and that I was an outcast among heroes. He asked why I had returned to Earth. I replied by telling him about the Titans and that I was looking for friend Robin, he said that this was Robin’s home.”  
“Star you do know I died right? How the hell would he know?”

Barbara knew how to defend herself and she kept a switchblade on her at all times but she knew not to bring a knife to a gunfight. She was walking home from the local store, she had gotten some wine and Cadburys. As she slumped down the dirty sidewalk she noticed two men were walking behind her, he walked through the alleyway to her right to see if they’d follow. When they turned into the alley as well she secretly pulled out her knife and turned around to face them, she wasn’t scared of common street thugs. But she was slightly afraid of a gun. The two men both pulled guns and did the usual ‘give us your wallet’ crap, Barbara wasn’t letting them bullshit her, she went for the closest one and stabbed his hand making him drop his gun, she ducked as the other one went to smack her with the butt of the gun and spun around to kick him in the back of the knee. The first guy grabbed her from behind and restrained her.  
“All right lady, we would have been nice and let you go, but now we’s gonna kill ya. Nice and slow.”  
He pulled the gun on her, pressing it to her abdomen. The goon was about to pull the trigger when a shadow fell from the rooftop above and behind the thug. He turned him around and head butted him; then threw him to the wall. The man was clearly a vigilante, dressed in white with a red cross on his chest. He pulled out a sword from a sheath and swung at the degenerate the edge just slicing across his arm. He flipped the sword around and bashed him in the side of the head with the pommel.  
“Who are you?”  
“Gotham’s guardian, it’s hero in white”  
“Thank you for saving me”  
“You appeared to have it handled, you’re extremely capable.” And with that the man dropped a smoke bomb and when it cleared he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m very sorry for being gone. The reasons I was gone are both excusable and inexcusable. One of them is my mental health which is something I don’t want to get into right now. Another is my social and school life which made me forget about this story but it’s not over. I hope that you can all forgive me and be understanding. Sorry my chapters are so short I will make them longer from here on out it’s just I really wanted to finally update this work.


	4. Pain is my drug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He dragged the razor across his arm adding to the abundance of scars and lines. Self harm was just normal to him now and he accepted that he hated himself, he’d thought about killing himself a lot, making a vertical line through all the horizontal ones. One time he had a particularly dark thought that if he slit his wrists then it’d almost look like train tracks but what was even darker is that he chuckled at that thought. He cut slow and deep into his arm drawing blood, he gritted his teeth and hissed at the feeling but he didn’t care about the physical pain any more. He only cared about the psychological pain it caused him, he’d started cutting himself soon after he started drinking and after that he started doing drugs again. He thought about what happened to Barbara last night, he felt guilty. If he’d been at her place like he said he would she wouldn’t have been alone and he could have protected her. He slammed his fist into the wall of his apartment in frustration, his hand made a crack in the dry wall. The wall had stains from spilt drinks, it was peeling and it had about six holes due to his tantrums. He was in love with Barbara and she loved him too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, how you doing? Oh no you had a bad day well that’s terrible, why don’t you sit back, put your feet up, relax and read another chapter of your ‘favourite’ story ever. Let good ‘ole Uncle Plinker entertain you with his excessive use of commas,,, because you deserve to feel happy, and you know this story will make you feel just that. Except the beginning.

He dragged the razor across his arm adding to the abundance of scars and lines. Self harm was just normal to him now and he accepted that he hated himself, he’d thought about killing himself a lot, making a vertical line through all the horizontal ones. One time he had a particularly dark thought that if he slit his wrists then it’d almost look like train tracks but what was even darker is that he chuckled at that thought. He cut slow and deep into his arm drawing blood, he gritted his teeth and hissed at the feeling but he didn’t care about the physical pain any more. He only cared about the psychological pain it caused him, he’d started cutting himself soon after he started drinking and after that he started doing drugs again. He thought about what happened to Barbara last night, he felt guilty. If he’d been at her place like he said he would she wouldn’t have been alone and he could have protected her. He slammed his fist into the wall of his apartment in frustration, his hand made a crack in the dry wall. The wall had stains from spilt drinks, it was peeling and it had about six holes due to his tantrums. He was in love with Barbara and she loved him too. He just couldn’t fight crime and be her boyfriend. Roy was in purgatory.

Roy had gone out for a run and went to the gym and then came back home to train more, fighting crime required a lot of physical strength but I didn’t require a healthy mentality. He didn’t like hurting himself but for some reason he still picked up the razor, he still pressed it to his skin and he still drew blood despite his body screaming ‘no no stop Roy stop!’ But no matter how loud his body screamed it was drowned out entirely by his mind, like a tsunami crashing against a city demolishing everyone and everything in its path. He pulled off his shirt, sweat dripping from his hair and glistening on his skin. He was thirsty and hungry but he couldn’t be bothered cooking spaghetti tonight so he decided on takeout; to quench his thirst was a trusty bottle of Jack Daniels he always kept on his bedside table, it was a miracle he was still alive despite all the drinking, drugs and cutting he did. He climbed into the shower and began to rinse himself off, his tired eyes barely staying open. When he was finished he picked up his phone and looked at his messages, the most recent one being from Barbara. She was so understanding that he couldn’t always take care of her and he loved that, it was one of the many things that made her such a good person. He messaged her back saying he wanted to meet up tomorrow.

Dick was walking up the hospital stairs like he had done so many times, for a whole year he traipsed along the east wing and entered room 6A... Tim’s room. Through the window he saw someone already sat there which was strange because he didn’t know this person and the doctors never came at this time, Dick checked the metal plaque on the door, it read: 6A. He entered the room slowly and approached Tim’s mysterious admirer with extreme caution, Dick was always a protective brother, ever since Jason.  
“Excuse me but who are you?” The man turned around and Dick instantly knew who he was, it was a little hard not to recognise someone who had a ‘J’ branded onto his face.  
“And I thought you’d still remember me, it’s your brother Littlewing!” He exclaimed.  
“Ja-Jason? But The Joker, he killed-how is this possible?” Dick cried and as he said it he could hear the crack in his voice. His eyes welled up with tears and he couldn’t hold it in, he latched himself around Jason while crying uncontrollably. He had lost his brother, the person he loved most in the world so tragically and now finally he had him back. Jason launched his arms around Dick and buried his head into Dick’s shoulder, not wanting to show that he was crying too.  
“I’m never letting go Jason! He won’t hurt you again I won’t let him!” Dick couldn’t control his emotions he didn’t know whether he was angry at Jason for leaving him, sad that he let him die or happy that he had his baby brother back. Either way he loved Jason and that was all that mattered.

After Jason had consoled Dick he sat him down and told him everything, from crawling out of his grave, training with the league, becoming Red Hood, working with Roy and meeting Starfire.  
Jason had a few questions of his own like: how did everyone react to his death, who didn’t turn up to his funeral, how it affected Bruce and surprisingly enough the thing Jason wanted to know the most was if Bruce ever thought about Jason. All these years Jason had blamed Batman for his death. He had planned to reveal himself sooner and get some answers from Bruce but of course there was that whole incident with Scarecrow.  
“He was never the same Jay, he loved you and I know you might think that he only thought of us as partners but we were so much more than that. He loved us because we were his sons and nothing can change that Jay-bird.” Jason didn’t know if it was the heartfelt way Dick told him that or if it was how much Bruce actually cared but something inside him broke and he began sobbing. He never thought he’d feel so much respect and love for Bruce; in that moment he missed him more than anyone ever could. Dick reached over and pulled him into a one arm hug. Jason nestled his head into Dick’s chest and for a while, everything was silent.  
“No matter what happens, no matter how far away we are or how different we are, you will always be my Littlewing.” Dick spoke softly and pet Jason’s hair absentmindedly.  
“I missed you Dick.”  
“I know.”

It was 11:00 at night and Jason had fallen asleep with his head resting on Dick’s shoulder, Dick had fallen asleep too and it was just them, just those three, the last Waynes. Then as if like magic (or a major convenience) Tim’s eyes opened and for the first time in a year he got up and out of bed. He had heard people talking earlier and then he remembered, Jason Todd, his predecessor was here in the flesh, talking to him. He saw Dick asleep and someone next to him. He could assume it was Jason, he never knew Jason but he did know how special he was to Dick. He went to the door and opened it - right into an orderly’s face - he gasped as he hit her and quickly rushed to help her up.  
“Ow, thanks, I guess. Wait, you’re a patient what are you doing out of bed?”  
“I’m Tim Drake I just woke up and I have no idea what’s going on, I really need someone to explain why I’m here and what happened to me.”  
“Oh my god you’re the one that was in the coma! Hold on I’ll go and get you a doctor.”  
“Hey no stop! Hey wait! Come back and help me!”

————————1 Month Later—————————

“Computer pull up everything we know about this ‘New Batman’” Dick ordered the machine.  
“These are all the files on the ‘New Batman’.”  
“A lot like Bruce, it shows up, beats the living hell out of some street thugs, handcuffs them, then leaves. He doesn’t kill but he’s got no problem with spraying them with a safer version of Scarecrow’s gas. It’s been weaponised to be ejected through a mechanism worn on the wrist. Apparently the dosage he used on Tim was a lot higher than usual he leaves no evidence save for the thugs he takes out. He’s good, but he’s Bruce on a lower budget, in fact, he may even be better. He gets the job done and he doesn’t need special toys.” Dick yawned a long, tiresome yawn. He looked at his watch and turned off the computer. As he began to ascend the mansion’s great staircase he wondered if Jason was settling in nicely. He entered his and Wally’s room and began to undress barely acknowledging Wally lay in bed reading, the book was called ‘A brave new world’. Dick read the book a few years ago and thought it was pretty good. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wally’s gaze wander sneakily from the pages of his book.  
“If you want to admire this glorious body Wally you don’t have to pretend you’re not doing anything. It’s not like you haven’t seen this before.” Dick boasted while climbing into bed. Wally's cheeks went a deep red as he tried to act like he didn’t know what he was talking about.  
“I um- I di- I wasn’t. I wasn’t looking at anything.”  
“You’re so bad at lying Wally.”  
“Well you have to admit you are really really hot, and fit.”  
“This is the part where you shut up and fuck me Wally.” Dick whispered sexually into his ear. Wally pushed Dick down onto the bed and pressed kisses all over his chest running his hands over every little detail, he liked to take it slow. He might be the second fastest man alive but he always held back his climax until the very last second.

Jason Todd was not settling in nicely. Every night when he was trying to get his beauty sleep all he could hear was Dick and Wally going at it like rabbits. He could write a book about what to say during sex from those two alone. It would include such phrases as: ‘harder’ ‘yes oh god yes’ ‘fuck yes harder’ ‘god Wally you’ve got magic fingers’ and on one occasion ‘yes daddy oh fuck me harder’. He imagined himself saying ‘I’ll take things you want to hear your sex partner say for 500 Alec’, he won’t lie he got a pretty good laugh out of that. Then he heard the worst one of all: ‘Wally I’m gonna cum’. Like any sensible person in that situation Jason picked up his duvet and pillow and went downstairs, kicking Dick’s door and saying ‘fuck you two’ as he slumped down the stairs. He flopped onto the couch and quietly went to sleep. In the morning Alfred came downstairs and attempted to wake him up, when that failed he tried shouting at him, when that failed Alfred backhanded him right across the cheek. “Ow crap!” “Language Master Todd!” “You slapped me!” “It would appear so, now, what would you wish to have for breakfast?” “Cheerios please, and I could you fired for doing that.” “I’m 67 sir and there is a magical form of income for the elderly called a pension. If I retired now I’d move to Florence and buy a nice little house by the Arno.” Alfred poured him a bowl of Cheerios and left it on the kitchen counter. As he went to go wake up Master Drake he turned to Jason and said “It’s a bloody pleasure to have you back Master Todd, Bruce would have been overjoyed.” “Thanks Alf, I don’t know what we’d do without you.” “You’d probably burn down Wayne Manor.” “Oh don’t wake Dick up! He had a visitor last night.” “I don’t need to wake Dick up because he’s probably already got HIS dick up Mister West’s bloody arse.” Alfred teased the boys on occasion. He was like a funny great-uncle/grunkle. Jason barely managed to hold in the laughter.

Jason was lay on the couch flicking through channels when Wally came downstairs in a rush, Alfred didn’t like it when they were together at Wayne Manor, he’d say ‘if you want to screw each other so bloody much do it in your own goddamn home’. Wally saw Jason and nearly jumped out of his skin.  
“*Cough cough* bottom *cough* bitch” Jason didn’t care for Wally, he thought he was a - Jesus be praised - cunt. Wally glared at him from across the room eating a bowl of cereal looking like that grumpy cat Jason saw in a meme once (about eight years ago).  
“I ain’t no bottom bitch” Wally muttered (like a bitch).  
“Ha ha! Bullshit! He fucking pounded you last night I could hear it through the walls.”  
“For your information I fucked him, when I woke up he was blowing me so fuck you. Virgin.” Wally stated with stubborn dickishness.*1 Jason’s shit-eating grin soon disappeared after that hit and like a total pussy he went back to flicking channels. Alfred knocked on Tim’s door and said he’d brought him breakfast, but there was no answer. He knocked again but harder this time. After knocking again he turned the handle and opened the door to realise that Tim wasn’t there. He instantly knew where he was so he carefully put down the b&b and went to the study. He pressed the three keys on the piano and the Batcave elevator arose quickly after. Sure enough Master Tim was there training so he could back out into the field. “All right Alf, tell me to get back to bed and ‘recover’.” “I won’t, because you should be training, you had built yourself a reputation in Gotham as the stand in Batman and being gone for a year was a heavy blow to your mind, your respect, your pride and your dignity. Getting back out there to face him again would be stupid if you hadn’t learned from your mistakes. Just don’t underestimate him so much this time.” “Thanks Alfred, it means a lot coming from you, Dick is a good teacher but no can replace Bruce.”

* * *

                        **One year earlier**

 _He and_   _Barbara both sat down at the table, Roy was glad he could take some time to treat her to something nice. She loved this restaurant and he particularly enjoyed it as well even if it was a bit pricey._

_“This is nice Roy, I know it’s difficult with being a vigilante but just the fact that we finally get some time together.”_

_”I needed to see you Barb, after what happened the other night with those muggers I was worried sick for you. But let’s not dwell on the past, how are you doing? Tell me about your week! Come on. All the juicy details.”_

_”Well work was awful, and the only thing I had to do this week was catch up on Game of Thrones and Rick and Morty so yeah I’m doing pretty good.”_

_Roy was a great listener, no matter how boring the conversation as long as he really tried he could fake interest really well but when it came to Barbara he didn’t have to fake interest, she was funny, relatable, down-to-Earth and just genuinely interesting. She wasn’t even all that charismatic, she was just fun to be around. They chatted all through the night, the food was excellent and they both really enjoyed themselves. Barbara had suggested a walk in the park which seemed like a great idea to Roy. They wandered around for half an hour before coming to a halt before a lamppost with a fading bulb._

_“The night I was attacked I felt like I almost had those guys and if I trained a little I probably would have saved myself that night. I want you to train me, teach me how to defend myself and others, I want to fight like you do. This is my city and it is my duty to protect it Roy.”_

_”You want me? To train you? No, I can’t. But Dick, Jason and Tim the three fully trained apprentices if Batman, if anyone can train you it’s them. I’m not gonna try and stop you, but this is dangerous, you could lose people. Look at Tim, he spent a YEAR in a coma because he got careless. There is a lot worse that could happen to you. If you’re willing to take that risk then just that one day we could be working together and if it comes to me or a group of citizens, I hope you know what call to make. Until you’re able to properly defend yourself you can rest easy knowing I’ll be there watching over you. I failed you once Barbara and I won’t do it again.” He pulled her closer and softly pressed his lips against hers, she put her arms around him and leaned into the kiss._

* * *

 

Barbara swiftly glided across the rooftops like a hot knife through butter, her ever watchful eyes scouring every inch of the city looking for that one criminal doltz that didn’t get the memo. Well it less a memo more a boot to the head and a broken rib. Her patrols rarely carried any interest to her, the business district of Gotham wasn’t where most crimes took place. Startling how during the day you’d never see a man getting stabbed on the street but as soon as the sun goes down then that’s when they come crawling out of the woodwork, they’re scum and they need to be brought to justice. Tim and Dick always got the best patrols, they’d have back alley fights drunken brawls that were taken outside because they were a little too ‘knifey’. Pressing a finger to here ear she spoke through her comms “I got nothing guys, AGAIN.” she groaned.  
Dick replied with what was clearly the sounds of bones breaking, men screaming, heavy grunts and baton strikes to the head.  
“Well I HAD something but they’re taking a little nap now.”  
“Guys you might wanna get over here!” Came a panicky voice from the other set of comms.  
“Tim, where are you?”  
“Wayne Tower, it’s Shadow Batman.”  
Barbara and Dick both grabbed their grappling hooks and fired toward the nearest building.

They zipped up the walls of Wayne Tower and both somersaulted to Tim’s side. The phantom turned to look at them all, hissing at them. A gassy, black aura seeped from it and black ooze dripped from it's mouth. It raced toward them striking as it did, Barbara noticed it had claws almost as long as talons but even sharper. It cut Dick’s cheek and swiftly twisted round launching itself at Tim, more aggressive than last year. Tim expertly either dodged or blocked the phantom’s attacks, the monster swiped at his head, he quickly ducked and sweeped at his feet knocking him over. It shrugged it off like it was nothing. Menacing, that’s what it was, stood there not moving, not making any noise. Like a dream, or more like a nightmare, the phantom began to rise but not like floating, it’s cape extended and the monster grew taller looking more and more like a human bat. It spread it’s wings, ancient wings with holes and what appeared to be stitch marks. Orange, glowing eyes opening, the creature beat its wings and flew towards the three going for the killing blow but something restricted it, contained it. A chain connected to the beast’s foot but it was glowing and it almost looked heavenly. One by one more chains sprouted from the ground wrapping themselves around it’s torso and arms. The glowing intensified and started to burn the creature pulling it to it’s feet and it started to pull the beast into the ground as a glowing circle with strange markings, drawings and incantations on it shot up from the ground. The creature’s suit, or skin?, had completely melted and the phantom was laid bare with a body that suffered from disfiguring acid wounds all over, it was putrid and the smell was worse. Barbara had smelt dead bodies before but this was on a whole new level of disgusting. The monster let out one final deafening screech as it was pulled into the light below. As the circle dissipated another one, almost like a ring of fire spouted upwards. A man walked forwards and the flames parted to let him pass. The fire died and he brushed himself off.  
“Nothing like a good demon hunt to get your blood pumping am I right mates? Oh sorry, where are my manners. Constantine, John Constantine. You lot have got a demon problem, and that one was well tough, blimey, I don’t know how you held your own against that but congrats. We’ll be meeting again soon so don’t worry, all your questions will be answered.” He slipped Barbara a card and whispered something strange: ‘Sdodunsu ekzla’ and the ring of fire appeared around him, when it died down he had gone.  
Barbara looked at the card, it read: John Constantine Paranormal investigator, professional exorcist, full-time demon hunter, British man.  
“Great, now there’s magicians, fucking! Magicians!” The card burned under her fingers, she looked at it and it now read ‘NOT a magician’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *1 dickishness. A word that refers to how much of a dickhead someone is being.
> 
> I put a lot of effort into this chapter, and I feel like some characters are finally starting to develop and we’re even being introduced to new characters like ‘Everyone’s favourite Tamaranian’ and ‘White Batman, with a SWORD!’ and who could forget ‘When a PI meets Doctor Who meets Doctor Strange’. I don’t want to reveal any more about the vigilante from the end of the last chapter until one or two more chapters later but you can expect moderate sprinkles of Constantine. Starfire will return in chapter 6 I have this whole thing planned out ahead of time.

**Author's Note:**

> Uhh... I don't know how to explain any of this except comic book logic and the wonderful magic of *convenience*


End file.
